Department of Sport and Entertainment Management, University of South Carolina, USA.
Addict Behav. 2021 Dec;123:107056. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107056. Epub 2021 Jul 19.
Esports has become one of the major online entertainment activities around the globe. Different from the previously dominant massively multiplayer online role-playing games, esports gaming has its unique structural characteristics, which substantially reshape the motivations, experiences, and behaviors of game users while raising new questions for research on Internet gaming disorder. In addition to identifying four structural characteristics of esports, the present study analyzed their implications from both theoretical and practical perspectives and conducted a cross-cultural examination by utilizing accurate and objective match history data of esports gamers in five different geographic regions (countries). Several findings of interest were obtained in this study. First, having in-game friend(s) in a premade team significantly increased gamers' propensity to play consecutive matches. Second, whereas Nordic and Eastern European gamers tended to play additional matches following wins, Japanese gamers were inclined to do so after experiencing losses. Third, low and high-skilled gamers were more likely to engage in consecutive play than their middle-skilled counterparts. With a focus on the competitive nature of esports, this study demonstrated that the presence of friend(s), the outcome of the previous match, and the level of gaming skill can significantly influence esports gamers' involvement.
电子竞技已成为全球主要的在线娱乐活动之一。与之前占主导地位的大型多人在线角色扮演游戏不同，电子竞技游戏具有独特的结构特征，这些特征极大地改变了游戏用户的动机、体验和行为，同时也为互联网游戏障碍的研究提出了新的问题。除了确定电子竞技的四个结构特征外，本研究还从理论和实践的角度分析了它们的意义，并利用五个不同地理区域（国家）的电子竞技游戏玩家的准确和客观的比赛历史数据进行了跨文化研究。本研究获得了一些有趣的发现。首先，在预组队中有游戏内好友会显著增加玩家连续比赛的倾向。其次，北欧和东欧的玩家在获胜后更倾向于玩额外的比赛，而日本的玩家在失利后更倾向于这样做。第三，低技能和高技能的玩家比中等技能的玩家更有可能连续玩游戏。本研究关注电子竞技的竞争性，表明有朋友的存在、上一场比赛的结果和游戏技能水平都会显著影响电子竞技玩家的参与度。
